Means for correcting and curing ingrowing toenails



April 25, 1950 R. P. ANDREWS 2,505,086

MEANS FOR CORRECTING AND CURING INGROWING TOENAILS Filed Feb. 11, 1946bEv/cE BEFORE BEING NORMAL GLUEDl/V PLACE NOTE:

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ATTQRNEY Patented Apr. 25, 1950 MEANS FOR CORRECTING AND CURING menowmeTOENAILS Ralph P. Andrews, Boca Raton, Fla. Application February11,1946, Serial No. 646,905

1 Claim. 1

The invention relates to improved method and means for correcting andcuring ingrowing toenails.

Devices intended for this general purpose have been proposed, but suchprior devices have been either too bulky, held the nail in an unnaturalposition, proved painful to the user, restricted the movement of thedigit, or required frequent attention due to the fact that they tend tobecome detached from the nail.

The primary object of the present invention is accordingly to provideimproved means intended for the desired purpose which is simple indesign, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply and difficult todetect even on close scrutiny. Such a device is particularly adapted foruse by beach leathers and by ladies wearing opentoed shoes.

The desirable characteristics of my improved device are (1) ease ofapplication; plicity and naturalness of design; (3) comfort andconvenience to user; and (4) substantial invisibility when in use. 7

In accordance with my invention the ingrown side of the toenail isartificially lengthened by means of an extension member or sheet ofpliable material, which is preferablyglued in place by means of awaterproof cement of such character as not to cause infection and whichwill not dissolve the material of which the device is made.

The improved correcting device may be left in place and trimmed alongwith the nail as natural growth of the nail demands, until such time asthe ingrowing tendency is cured and the nail has grown sufficiently tooverlap the toe. At this time the correcting device may be removed withcement remover, or left in place and trimmed until natural growth hascompletely replaced it.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing and the following detailed description.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the toe having an ingrown nail to which thecorrective device of the (2) sim- Fig. 4 is an end view of the deviceshowing the attaching flap; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same with the attaching flap folded under.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral i0 denotes the main body ofthe protecting device which may be in the form of a sheet of plasticmaterial, preferably flesh colored and of cellulosic origin, such ascellulose acetate or cellulose nitrate, and of approximately the samestiffness as the normal nail. The size of the device should be largeenough for the average large male and may be out smaller to fit smallernails.

The correcting device In is provided with an attaching flap II which maybe integral therewith and flexibly connected thereto along edge I2. Atoe A having nail B ingrown along one edge thereof is indicated inFig. 1. In accordance with my invention the attaching flap H of thecorrectin device It] is inserted under the nail along the ingrowing sidethereof, after which the main body In of the correcting device isadhesively secured to the nail by means of any suitable waterproofcement. It will be noted that the tip M of the correcting device locatedon the side of the ingrown portion of the nail extends well beyond theingrown portion and rests upon a portion of the toe beyond the ingrownnail. It will be further noted that the front edge l5 of the protectingdevice slope rearwardly from the tip [4 to its intersection with thenail B at [6, thus forming a V-shaped notch adjacent the intersection.As the nail grows the correcting device Ill moves forwardly with it andgradually guides the ingrown portion of the nail out of the toe to anatural position until the ingrown efiect is completely overcome.

The correcting device is preferably colored to correspond with thecoloring of the nail itself so that it is substantially invisible whenin use. Where both sides of the nail are ingrown two such correctingdevices may be used in a manner similar to that described in connectionwith the single ingrown portion. The invention is also adapted for usewith ingrowing fingernails.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration, but it will be obvion that numerous modifications andvariations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

3 I claim: A one-piece nail protective device comprising a main bodyportion consisting of a sheet of pliable plastic material havingapproximately the to be adhesively secured'to the top surface of thenail, and an integral attaching flap flexibly connected along one edgeonly of the main body portion and adapted to be inserted beneath thenail along one edge thereof, after which the main body portion may beswung downwardly into contact with the nail and adhesively securedthereto.

"RALPH P. ANDREWS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number stiffness of the natural nail and being adapted 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS Name Date Foster Apr. 14, 1908 Haener Aug. 17, 1926Schmidthofier June 4, 1940 C0ates Feb. 22, 1944

